Two adolescents have been apprehended for purportedly scheming to imitate the atrocities committed by Southport murderer Axel Rudakubana.
Rudakubana, who is serving a life sentence for the killings of three young girls – Bebe King, six, Elsie Stancombe, seven, and Alice Aguiar, nine, during a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in the previous year.
A 16-year-old from Merseyside and a 17-year-old from South Wales have been detained on suspicion of devising similar assaults, as disclosed. The younger suspect is accused of planning a “copycat” assault at a Taylor Swift function, intending to wear a green hoodie akin to that of the child slayer.
Allegedly, he amassed knives and even journeyed to Southport to explore local activities. The adolescent is also accused of downloading the identical al-Qaeda handbook that Rudakubana used to concoct the lethal toxin ricin, according to the Echo reports.
Moreover, the teenager contemplated targeting his former school post dropping out and delved into high school shootings in the United States.
The younger defendant was apprehended in August and charged with possession of terrorism-related documents and issuing threats to kill. Court pleas are scheduled for the following month.
A 17-year-old from Cwmbran was taken into custody in June after purportedly discussing replicating Rudakubana’s actions and browsing “large knives” on the internet. A note titled “places to attack” was allegedly discovered on the boy’s phone, containing directions and images of dance schools in his vicinity. Geolocation data from his phone indicated his presence near the school just days before his arrest.
It is alleged that the older teen had probed prospective assaults on his school and informed individuals on social media about his intention to target the Oasis concert in Cardiff on July 4.
Following the arrest, he has admitted guilt to possessing a terrorism-associated document.
